Thursday, October 2, 2008

Quito - we made it





Scroll down for English;)

Efter 15 timmars resande och snabbplugg av halsningfraser pa spanska anlande vi i Quito sent igarkvall. Pancho var som utlovat varldens trevligaste man och han hamtade oss pa flygplatsen vilket vi var valdigt glada over. Spanskakunskaperna ar smatt bristfalliga men det ar otroligt vad en termin pa medborgarskolan kan gora! Tyska och franska fraser dyker upp titt som tatt men basic spanish hanger fortfarande med. Efter att hjartklappningen, flamtandet och huvudvarken (pa grund av den hoga hojden som Quito ligger pa) lagt sig var v i redo for frukost med Pancho lagat av hushallerskan Soilita. Smatt forvanade nar det bjods pa Nescafe med varm mjolk (inget vatten) i kaffelandet nummer ett!

Vi hade varldens tur och traffade Cara fran New York som bott i vardfamiljen i en manad. Detta var hennes sista dag och hon agnade den till att visa oss runt i stan, hur man tar vagnen och massa saker man inte ska gora etc. Allt vi last och blivit varnade for verkar vara sant sa vi haller hart i vaskorna och lar inte ta nagra nattbussar i det har landet. Deras blev hi jacked forra veckan pa en langresa till kusten. Ej kul. Men alla e supervanliga och det kanns bra att bo i en familj. Speciellt nar dom har tva hundar, varav en ar den storsta Schafer jag sett; Dragu. Han ska tydligen ha raddat manga studenter fran bade det ena och det andra.

Imorgon ar det forsta spanskalektionen. Ska traffa Jaime pa Coffee Tree (ni som varit i Quito vet antagligen exakt var det ar). Pancho har erbjudit sig att komma med for att hjalpa till med upplagget av hur manga dagar i veckan etc vi vill ta lektioner da Jaime inte kan nagon engelska eller svenska heller for den delen.

Varmt och skont har. Ikvall blir det middag hemma med Pancho som tydligen har en systerdotter i Stockholm och varit i Goteborg for att kopa en Volvo till sin bror som bor i Italien. Varlden e liten. Vi planerar en 5 dagars djungeltripp om nagon vecka och aven en tur till kusten. Det blir nog till Esmeralda (med en dagbuss). Camilla eller Karin, vad hette den guiden ni akte med igen? Inte for att det ar brist pa organisatorer har men....

K, Brad is completely beat after 15 hours of traveling, head ache due to the high altitude, breakfast at 7.30 and a full day of walking. Oh and did I mention the large beer at lunch? So he is too tired to take care of the English version.

We made it and were extremely happy to see a smiling Pancho meeting us at the gate. Truly one of the nicest people I´ve met. We have our own room and bathroom. After all the horror stories we seriously thought we would get robbed as soon as we got off the plane so it feels nice to be in a house, guarded by the biggest German shepherd we have seen in addition to the locked gates and broken glass bottles spread out along the high walls in case somebody tries to climb in. Oh, and we are next to a day care!

We got really lucky and met Cara, a girl from New York, who has stayed with the host family for a month and she spent her last day showing us around town and told us all the do´s and don´ts. Everyone is really friendly here and we are excited about exploring the city. First spanish lesson is tomorrow at 10 am. My one semester of Spanish has actually paid off but we have a lot to learn before we head to the Saturday market to bargain for prices.

Planning a 5 day trip to the djungle probably next week and then another to the coast. We will be taking a day bus after learning that everything the guidebook said about the night buses is true. Cara's group of World Teach friends{s bus got hijacked on a trip last week...

Seattlites- thought we were in coffee coutry of the world so imagine our surprise when we were served Nescafe with warm milk (no water) for breakfast:)

So I guess we will miss the debate tonight, maybe we will hit up a bar and watch a soccer game instead.

Hasta Luego!

Cecilia

10 comments:

Unknown said...

sorry we missed your call...let's set a time. And what is the time difference there? glad to hear all is going well....and the adventure continues.

Love, MOM

Märy said...

Wow - you sure don't waste any time posting! Great to read about your first day! I have you guys under my favorites now so I'll be checking often!
Hugs,
Marie and the boys.

Circus Princess said...

Nescafe med mjolk?
Tack for underbar lasning, du vet det dar med "live vicariously through others" blir extra kul nar man har vanner med sa spannande liv:)

Kram,
Susanne

Russ Twoey said...

Just remember to tell every native Spanish speaker ... "Mas despacio por favor." That got me through six years of Espanol :)

Unknown said...

:) huvudvärken kommer nog hålla i sig några dagar men det går över.
vi åkte också nattbuss, till lago agria, men klarade oss utan hijacks. blev dock ordentligt kollade några gånger av män med kpistar, inte så skoj det heller men ändå... :)
som sagt, tänk först så klarar ni er förhoppningsvis undan det mesta!

javier hette guiden, får för mig att vårt hostel hette titipulo men kan ha hittat på det oxå så kanske inte så mkt att lita på... haha!

kram på er!!

Unknown said...

Great to hear everything is OK now. Autumn is here and tomorrow they have promised our first storm!
Love
Daddy

Märy said...

Nice pictures! Is that your bakgård? It looks very cozy.
Have fun in the jungle!
- Winjums

Camilla Hult said...

Hey!

Great to hear you are there! Yes, instant coffee and milk is what you get. Cafe con leche! Mums!

The company we went with to the jungle (Lago Agrio) is called Dracena.(I sent you an email about it) The guide we met in Latacunga was called Javier.

There is also a cafe in Quito where they speak swedish. They used to live in Sweden and moved back to Ecuador.

See you soon!

Chris said...

Wow!
this is great, I'm living through you, so go KILL something!

Sarah Jeff and Tyler said...

YUMMMMMMM Grubs...you are crazy for even trying them!!!

The spiders would have freaked me out totally!!!